Lawyer: Unfair to Suggest 'Da Vinci' Copied

LONDON – A lawyer for the publisher of the blockbuster thriller "The Da Vinci Code" chipped away Thursday at the claims of two authors who allege copyright infringement, forcing one of them to concede that a key element of the case is wrong.

Michael Baigent and co-author Richard Leigh are suing Random House in Britain's High Court for alleging infringing the copyright of their 1982 book, "Holy Blood, Holy Grail." They claim Dan Brown's best-seller "appropriated the architecture" of their work, which explores theories that Jesus married Mary Magdalene, the couple had a child and the bloodline survives.

In court documents, they claim that a synopsis Brown sent to publishers pitching his work contained key themes from their nonfiction book, presented in the same order. Under cross-examination by Random House lawyer John Baldwin, Baigent acknowledged the points were not in the same order.

"You're right, Mr. Baldwin," he said.

If the writers succeed in securing an injunction to bar the use of their material, they could hold up the scheduled May 19 release of "The Da Vinci Code" film, starring Tom Hanks.

Random House lawyers argue that the ideas in dispute are so general they are not protected by copyright.

During a third day cross-examining Baigent, Baldwin also argued that many of the ideas in "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" were not featured in Brown's book, a mixture of code-breaking, art history, religion and mystical lore that has sold more than 40 million copies since it was published in 2003.